


beloved

by milkdaze (flowerstems)



Series: queen of hearts [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 09:51:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5452367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerstems/pseuds/milkdaze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nyssa returns to Nanda Parbat two things are different: she’s stronger, in ways she didn’t know she could be, and she’s not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	beloved

The word ‘soulmate’ was one Nyssa had never truly acknowledged. As a ten-year-old, the idea of such an ideal person existing was merely a lie fed to her by the Magician, and a distraction to her role as heir to the demon. The Magician, being the tenacious nuisance that he tends to be, gives her a compass for her eleventh birthday. It’s a round, heavy, coppery thing, she thinks, and the needle spins arbitrarily, this way and that, and it seems useless.

“What am I to do with this? It doesn’t work.” Nyssa turns it over in her hands, trying to pull it apart unsuccessfully. She looks up at the Magician and scowls, “Is this a trick?”

“No,” he says, kneeling down to match her height. She bares her teeth in warning but he laughs, “This compass points to your soulmate.”

“This is another of your tricks.”

“No, no, it isn’t. Look at the needle,” the Magician points at the needle jerking arbitrarily, tells her that it’s following her soulmate’s every move, and Nyssa thinks that’s creepy. “More creepy than a band of assassins training in the desert?”

“This is a form of stalking, I’m sure.”

“Stalking is a great skill for an assassin. It’ll help with your training.”

While Nyssa buys into this easily as an eleven-year-old, when she’s twelve, thirteen, fourteen, she starts to consider what it would be like to find someone so ideal for her and she practices following the compass whenever she isn’t training.

The first time she tries to follow the compass she’s fifteen and she ends up at the edge of Nanda Parbat, only to be called back by her father. She frowns at the compass for the rest of the day; this means no one in Nanda Parbat is her soulmate, she has to go farther.

Nyssa trains her eyes on the compass’ needle, familiarises herself with its erratic movements, and comes to realise that the needle generally points west. As she follows the compass, farther and farther from Nanda Parbat each time, the needle spins quicker, swings more north than south, but her father is reluctant to let her cross the Atlantic alone until she’s skilled enough.

By the time Nyssa is skilled enough to be allowed to cross the Atlantic on her own whims and fancies, she’s lost count of how many times she has tried following the compass, how many times she thought she was near to her soulmate only for the needle to jerk arbitrarily, pointing nowhere but far ahead.

But one day, the needle suddenly points east.

East of Nanda Parbat, east of China. Nyssa follows it to the shore, and it points to the ocean then spins as though it’s broken for almost a year.

She tells her father where she plans to go, that she’s going to train in the harsh conditions to better herself, and he approves without question. Then she crosses the sea, comes ashore at Lian Yu, and the compass points determinedly east along the shore, more steady than it’s ever been.

Nyssa stares at the compass, suspicious, upset, and with the faintest desire to shove it down the Magician’s throat because there’s the chance she wasted her efforts following this useless piece of metal. Following it this far, tracing its movements, it may not have been a total waste of time because it certainly helped her improve her skills. She was ready to leave the island with just that until she saw a woman, blonde and shaking and curled up so small Nyssa almost didn’t notice.

Nyssa approaches the woman more out of curiosity than a desire to help, but as she’s a few steps away from her, Nyssa can’t ignore how helpless and broken she looks, nor can she ignore the way the needle of her compass is pointing stubbornly at the blonde, no matter how Nyssa may turn or shake the compass.

It seems she’s found her soulmate.

Nyssa tucks the compass away and checks for breathing, for a pulse. The girl is still alive, at least, but Nyssa doubts she will be for much longer if she stays on the shores of the island any longer. She takes her deeper into the island, just on the edge of the woods, and slaughters a pheasant, cooking it over the campfire before offering it to the blonde. The woman is wary but she accepts the food and eats little by little with a quiet thanks.

This continues for some days until the woman is strong enough to move about on her own, even offering to help Nyssa hunt.

“What is your name?” Nyssa asks instead, sliding a few newly crafted arrows into her quiver. The woman purses her lips in response and Nyssa tries for a smile. “I mean you no harm, I am simply curious.”

“Sara,” she says after a while, still eyeing Nyssa but looking a little more relaxed.

“You may call me Nyssa.”

There’s silence and Nyssa assumes the conversation is over. It was pleasant while it lasted, but when Nyssa hums and gets to her feet Sara jumps up as well and says, “So, can I help with the hunt?”

Nyssa looks Sara over a few times. “All right, but you’ll need to know a few things first.”

 

* * *

 

When Nyssa returns to Nanda Parbat two things are different: she’s stronger, in ways she didn’t know she could be, and she’s not alone.

Sara’s stronger, in mind and body, and she grips Nyssa’s hand tight when they stand before Ra’s al Ghul. She stands through the trial, through his demonstration of power and she laughs. She laughs like a song, with every lilt and nuance filling Nyssa’s head and chest and in that moment all she can think is how in love she is with Sara. Then Sara kneels beside her and swears allegiance to the League.

“I did it for you,” Sara says one afternoon, when the air is shimmering with heat and they’re done with training for the day. Nyssa can see her bruises and scars, more than they were yesterday, and when she traces her fingers over them Sara barely flinches,

“You don’t owe me anything, Sara.” Nyssa is happy, happy Sara would join the League for her, but she’s hurt, too. She doesn’t want Sara to do anything she doesn’t really want to do. Nyssa wants Sara to be able to stand through pain, but she doesn’t want her to suffer. “You can still leave, if you so desire.”

“No,” Sara takes Nyssa’s hand and squeezes it in her grip, gaze fiercely determined as she says, “I want to be with you.”

Nyssa feels her heart swell and she wonders how she could have thought of love so lightly when she was a child. She feels her eyes burn and her throat tightens so she says, “You’ll have to choose a new name.”

“I think I have one in mind already.” Sara smiles, and it’s so bright, Nyssa wonders how she could have lived before without seeing it. “Maybe ‘Canary’. How does that sound?”

“ _Ta-er al-Asfer_.” Nyssa says. She thinks about Sara’s laugh, the way it flows through the air, the way she wants to hear it over and over again, it’s her favourite song. Sara is looking at her, smile wide as she waits for Nyssa’s opinion and all Nyssa can think to say is, “It sounds beautiful.”

**Author's Note:**

> Flarrow femslash week-Wednesday: Favorite Ladies Scene/Interaction AND/OR Soulmate AU


End file.
